Category Archives: Dazy Mojo

I’ve been writing so much music lately I’ve completely neglected my blogging duties. Already that first sentence sounds weird and ill formed. That one too. Holy shit. I’ve either already lost what little writing skill I may have possessed at one time or judgement has reared its ugly head once again. I’m 95% sure it’s the latter. That stupid asshole voice in my head that spends all it’s goddamn time yelling how bad everything is. It’s super annoying and way too loud. It’s true, I’ve had a recent explosion of musical creativity as of late resulting in no less than 10 new songs (hopefully the genesis of the debut Dazy Mojo album), but that burst of hyper confidence and admiration for my art is unfortunately followed by the ever inevitable demon monster of self doubt and judgement. Like shitty clockwork it reveals its stupid face and it’s nothing new but it always sucks in subtly different ways just the same. It holds me hostage while my songs somehow simultaneously age with mold and stay frozen in time. My writing suffers, my confidence suffers, and sleep is the only thing that manages to escape it’s filthy clutches. Luckily, I know this cretinous swine’s power is temporary and must not be trusted. Batten the hatches! Ride out the storm! The beast shall indeed be tamed!

Speaking of “taming beasts”, I feel the need to briefly discuss a little victory I’ve experienced recently involving addiction. I’ve gone well over a month without doing something that I deeply enjoy and tend to devote countless hours to on a somewhat daily basis. I quit video games. For anyone who doesn’t self identify as a “gamer” like I do, this may seem like a ridiculously childish thing for a 35 year old to care about but believe me it’s absolutely serious and also an absolutely real addiction. That being said, I’m not going to rant about the evils of video game addiction or weigh in on the negative effects gaming might have on the brain, I’m simply saying for me, it was time to put down the controller. It was really a time management decision more than anything. Without spending countless hours of my day collecting non existent trophies and completing quest after quest for imaginary robots, I’m forced to fill that time doing anything else. Sure a lot of that time is still spent sitting on my couch binge watching Netflix but a big part of it is now also spent sitting at my piano actually producing content instead of just endlessly ingesting it like Jabba The Hutt with a tape worm. I’ll still be a gamer for life and I’m sure my PS3 hasn’t endured its last epic session of dragon slaying or collectible hunting but at least now I’m fully aware of what I’d potentially be sacrificing in it’s place. Progress.

In other news, I’m settling into my part time second life as a poor man’s Sam Malone quite nicely. Working in a bar with people ten years younger than me might have it’s downsides (the fact that some of them may have watched me on TV when they were kids is a whole other story) but work is work and chatting up people all day over drinks is not a bad way to make a living as far as I’m concerned. Plus the cliche has finally been achieved! Like almost every other actor before me, I am now officially also a waiter. My time line may be a little messy but the ritual is complete. Maybe now one day Nicolas Cage will win the lottery and give me half the winnings in lieu of a tip just like that seminal 1990’s true life motion picture classic Face/Off. I still can’t believe how much Bridgette Fonda looked like that guy from Saturday Night Fever. Ah Hollywood magic. And scene.

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JM

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Jobs. Work. Both four letter words and for good reason. Doing things for money you wouldn’t normally do for free is kind of a ridiculous concept on many levels but it’s also part of the human experience. Some people are lucky to get to do the thing they love to do and would do regardless of payment, for a living and I fell into that category of magical unicorns for most of my adult working life. Acting was my passion and profession and only source of income for close to 10 years. This, like most fantastic to-good-to-be-true things, did not last. Unfortunately, residual checks and parental financial assistance only goes so far. Then what? “Get a job you hippie”, that’s what. Easier said than done for a plethora of reasons not least of which is a total lack of experience in anything other than professional pretending. Lucky for me, pretending to know how to do something is 80% of everything. Those numbers may be factually inaccurate but because I’m pretty good at pretending to know what I’m talking about, you probably believed me anyway. So, in the spirit of professional pretending (and complete financial disarray) I did what 99% of everyone reading this did at some point and finally got a god damn regular job.

First of all, some clarifications: The job is part time; the job is relatively easy; and most importantly of all, I’m still a working artist. Am I getting paid for my art? Negative. I am however, treating my art like a full time job (when I’m not at my part time job) and have no plans to put acting or music on the back burner…ever. In fact, in light of these new revelations, I’ve finally begun writing music again and am currently experiencing some kind of unimaginable embarrassment of creative riches in the form of nine new completed songs in just under three weeks. It’s super exciting and equally scary as hell but it’s proof of what can happen with a little discipline and focus. Also a trip to New Orleans doesn’t hurt.

So Joe finally get’s a regular job like everyone else in the world. So what? Nothing really. It’s my blog, I’ll say what I want. Full disclosure though, I came incredibly close to quitting after only two days of training. Learning an entirely new job at 35 in an industry lousy with 20 year olds can totally mess with your sense of self and I already have pretty shaky confidence or a “dazy mojo” if you will (Oh you will! #dazymojo). Regardless of all that, I’m sticking it out (for now) and it’s proving to be a positive experience that I most likely desperately needed for a long time, just like everyone and their dog have been telling me for years.

As far as acting goes, I’m at a bit of a stand still at the moment. It sucks to not be getting opportunities anymore but I’m weirdly not too worried about it. I’ve always shifted focus back and forth between music and acting ever since I can remember so if I’m currently in a fruitful music mentality that could lead to Dazy Mojo releasing an album, touring across the country and ending up on SNL the same week Jim Carrey hosts for the fourth time, I guess I’m OK with that. The important thing is, I’m doing what I should be doing again, creating. Writing, singing, acting, playing, performing. These are all equal parts of who I am and when I’m not actively engaging in at least one of those things at any given moment in time, I’m not accurately representing my true self and the results are nothing short of apocalyptic. Losing sight of who you are is the fastest path to depression and self destruction and while it may not be the only ingredient in the shit stew that is hard times, it’s definitely the overpowering flavor in mine. Thankfully, my world is back on track and hopefully I keep that bastard of a ball spinning in the right direction from now one. Long live the Joeascence!